Rusk Industries, Inc. v. Hopkins County Tax Appraisal District

818 S.W.2d 111, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 2354, 1991 WL 200777
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 24, 1991
DocketNo. 6-91-007-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 818 S.W.2d 111 (Rusk Industries, Inc. v. Hopkins County Tax Appraisal District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rusk Industries, Inc. v. Hopkins County Tax Appraisal District, 818 S.W.2d 111, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 2354, 1991 WL 200777 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

[113]*113OPINION

GRANT, Justice.

Rusk Industries, Inc. appeals from an adverse judgment rendered in favor of Hopkins County Tax Appraisal District and Hopkins County Appraisal Review Board (referred to collectively as Tax Appraisal District) in a suit in which Rusk Industries protested the valuation and appraisal of its land for tax purposes.

Rusk Industries is a family-owned corporation, and the land in question was used for raising beef cattle. Its pastureland contained no hybrid forages that were recognized as improved pasture. About sixty acres had been planted in rye grass and clover. Rusk Industries contends that the trial court’s findings of fact erroneously state the guidelines for the valuation of agricultural land; that the trial court’s findings of fact are against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence; that the valuation of its property was not ascertained as provided by law; that the property was excessively and unequally appraised; that the court erred in failing to award it reasonable attorney’s fees; and that the trial court failed to timely mail a copy of its findings of fact and conclusions of law to Rusk Industries.

In a case tried before the court, findings of fact have the same force and effect as jury answers to special questions and are treated with the same dignity on appellate review. DeBenavides v. Warren, 674 S.W.2d 353, 356 (Tex.App.— San Antonio 1984, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The trial court entered the following findings of fact:

1. The property which is the subject of this cause of action consists of 691.63 acres of land owned by Plaintiff and qualified as open-space land pursuant to Chapter 23, Texas Tax Code, in Tax Year 1986.
2. Defendant Appraisal District appraised all pasture in Hopkins County in 1986 as one category of land at $200 per acre based on a weighted average computation of productivity values.
3. Only two percent (2%) of pasture in Hopkins County had native grasses located thereon in 1986.
4. The majority of pasture in Hopkins County was improved through the planting of introduced grasses, fertilizing, and other methods in 1986.
5. The February 1982 Guidelines for the Valuation of Agricultural Land published by the State Property Tax Board provides that separate categories of land should not be established when only a few acres are devoted to a specific use; typical use categories are required.
6. The February 1982 Guidelines for the Valuation of Agricultural Land published by the State Property Tax Board provides for calculating values based on percentage combinations or averaging of principal agricultural enterprises into a single land category.
7. The property which is the subject of this cause of action was correctly appraised at $200 per acre in 1986.

Based upon the foregoing findings of fact, the trial court entered the following conclusion of law:

Plaintiff’s property which is the subject of this cause of action was neither excessively nor unequally appraised by Defendants in 1986 pursuant to Sections 23.51-23.53, 42.25, 42.26, and 1.12, Texas Tax Code (Vernon’s 1982) and the guidelines adopted by rule by the State Property Tax Board of Texas.

Tex. Const, art. VIII, § 1-d instructs the Legislature to promote the preservation of open-space land by passing a general law for the taxation of open-space land devoted to farm and ranch purposes on the basis of the land’s productive capacity. Rusk Industries takes the position that the erroneous methodology used to calculate its land value resulted in the excessive valuation of $200 per acre, for a total of $136,326, when a correct valuation would have been $91.29 per acre, for a total of $63,139.

We shall first address Rusk Industries’ complaints that the trial court erred in its statements summarizing State PROPERTY Tax BoaRD, Guidelines for the Valuation OF AGRICULTURAL Land (Feb. 1982).

[114]*114The first guideline included in the findings of fact was as follows:

5. The February 1982 Guidelines for the Valuation of Agricultural Land published by the State Property Tax Board provides that separate categories of land should not be established when only a few acres are devoted to a specific use; typical use categories are required.
The Guidelines specifically provide:
If only a few acres of land are devoted to a specific use, the category should not be established. Rather, the few acres devoted to that use should be placed in a more typical use category. In these cases, care should be taken to place these few acres into a category with the same or similar productive capacity values.

We find that the trial court correctly paraphrased this guideline.

Rusk Industries also complains about the following finding of fact:

6. The February 1982 Guidelines for the Valuation of Agricultural Land published by the State Property Tax Board provides for calculating values based on percentage combinations or averaging of principal agricultural enterprises into a single land category.

The appraised value of qualified open-space land is determined on the basis of the category1 of the land, using accepted income capitalization methods applied to average net to land.2 Tex.Tax Code Ann. § 23.52(a) (Vernon 1982). When the five-year average for each of the principal enterprises in the land class has been determined, one step remains. This is the combining of the five-year net to land averages for the principal enterprises into a single net to land value for the land class. Guidelines FOR the Valuation of AGRICULTURAL Land, at 21. This guideline was properly paraphrased by the trial court in finding of fact six. The point of error alleging that the trial court misstated the controlling guidelines is overruled.

We shall next consider Rusk Industries’ points of error contending that two of the court’s findings of fact were made against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. Rusk Industries challenges the trial court’s finding of fact that “[o]nly two percent (2%) of pasture in Hopkins County had native grasses located thereon in 1986” and that “[t]he majority of pasture in Hopkins County was improved through the planting of introduced grasses, fertilizing, and other methods in 1986.”

In reviewing a great weight argument, because the burden of proof is on the appellant, the appellant must show that the finding of fact was so contrary to the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust. In reviewing these points, we shall examine all of the evidence in the record that is relevant to the fact being challenged. Plas-Tex, Inc. v. U.S. Steel Corp., 772 S.W.2d 442 (Tex.1989); In re King’s Estate, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660 (1951).

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Bluebook (online)
818 S.W.2d 111, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 2354, 1991 WL 200777, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rusk-industries-inc-v-hopkins-county-tax-appraisal-district-texapp-1991.